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(No Model.)

B. M. ENGELMAN.

BOTTLE STOPPER.

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Patented Aug. 25, 1896.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE M. ENGELMAN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LEO L. SOHWAB, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 566,386, dated August 25, 1896. Application filed November 7, 1895- Serial N01 568,229. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE M. ENGELMAN, of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Stoppers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of bottle-stoppers which are used to prevent the fraudulent refilling of bottles.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device which can be fastened in the neck of any ordinary bottle, and which when so fastened will not interfere with the free outpouring of the liquor in the bottle, but will absolutely prevent the refilling of the bottle.

To these ends my invention consists of a bottle-stopper the construction of which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification,

in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken side elevation, with the neck and stopper in longitudinal section, of a bottle and stopper, showing my improvements. Fig. 2 is a detail vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan on the line 3 4 of Fig. 1 of my improved stopper. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan on the line 3 4 of Fig. 1 of my improved stopper. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the stopper.

The bottle 10 may be of any usual kind, and it has a neck 11, which also can be of any approved construction, although it should have sufficient length to contain the stopper and leave room enough above the stopper for the insertion of the customary cork. Within the neck 11 is held the plug, comprising the lower and upper parts 12 and 13, which form parts of myimproved stopper and which before being inserted in the bottleneck are rigidly fastened together. These parts 12 and 13 are made in two parts for convenience, but if the parts are made integral the invention is the same.

The lower portion 12 of the plug is hollow and straight and has a bottom opening 14, in which the ball or valve 15 is adapted to be .seated, and on the inner wall of the part 12 of the plug are channels 16, through which the liquor may pass around the plug when the bottle is inverted. The ball 15 fits snugly in the lower straight portion of the plug, and is thus sensitive to the action of the liquor, which to pass the ball must run through the channels 16.

The top portion 13 of the plug is provided with a longitudinal bore 17, which has a sharp bend or trap 18 in the middle, formed by two lateral overlapping extensions integral with the plug to prevent a wire or other instrument from being inserted in the stopper so as to work the valve, but it will of course be understood that the sinuosity of the bore need not be confined to the one sharp bend. The bore is rectangular, or at least oblong, at the bottom, as shown at 19, so that When the bottle is inverted the ball or valve cannot close the bore 17, but leaves openings at the ends of the lower part of the bore, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. The top part13 of the bore is preferably made in two pieces, as shown in Fig. 4, and the pieces then firmly fastened together, as it can be made easier in this way.

When the liquor is to be poured, out the bottle is tipped in the usual way, and the pressure of the liquor displaces the valve or ball 15 and the liquor flows through the opening 14, channels 16, and bore 17 or 21, as the case may be. If, however, an attempt is made to refill the bottle, the ball 15 fits its seat in the opening 14, and no liquor can pass the ball.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The combination with the bottle-neck, of a two-part plug fitting tightly therein, the lower part being of uniform internal diameter with a reduced valve-seat at the bottom and longitudinal channels in its side walls,

and the upper part having a bore extending from top to bottom, the said bore having an oblong bottom opening and a sharp trap therein formed by overlapping lateral eXtensions integral with the plug, and a ball fitting snugly in the lower straight part of the plug and adapted to close against the seat, substantially as described.

EUGENE ENGELMAN.

TVitnesses:

WARREN B. HUrcHINsoN, WILLIAM D. PECK. 

